A RECORD NUMBER OF STUDENTS – 70,000 – WILL BE EDUCATED IN NYC PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOLS THIS YEAR,
YET 50,000 REMAIN ON WAITLISTS
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Charter Schools Add 13,400 New Seats for Students in 2013-2014 School Year;
3,600 in 24 Newly Opening Schools and 9,800 in Existing Schools Scale Up to Capacity
Aug. 26, 2013 (New York, NY) – Twenty-four new public charter schools are opening their doors to an estimated 3,600 New York City public school students for the 2013-14 school year, bringing the total number of charter schools to 183, the New York City Charter School Center announced today. Existing charter schools that are serving new grade levels this year – as they gradually “scale up” to full capacity – are adding an additional 9,800 seats. The number of New York City public school students that will be educated in charter schools this fall will reach a record number of 70,000. Even though more kids than ever are starting the year at a charter school of their parents’ choice, an estimated 50,000 of their peers remain on waitlists due to a shortage of seats.
Several of the new schools will provide an innovative approach to teaching, such as the Brooklyn Urban Gardens School (BUGS) in Park Slope, and the Math, Engineering and Science Academy Charter High School (MESA) in Bushwick.
“We are thrilled to welcome this diverse group of charter schools and expand high quality public school options to an additional 13,400 students in New York City,” said New York City Charter School Center CEO James Merriman. “The promise of charter schools is their ability to discover successful approaches to teaching and learning and then allow as many students as possible to benefit from them. I’m encouraged by the large number of new charter schools opening their doors, the same number as last year, and the charter schools which have expanded to add seats based on successful track records. This bodes well for the future of charter schooling in New York – however, in order to increase school choice there is clearly far more work to be done.”
The 24 new schools are located in Brooklyn, the Bronx, Manhattan and Queens. Nine of the new schools are independent, while 15 are part of existing charter management organizations, including top-performing networks such as Success Academy, Icahn, Achievement First and Uncommon Schools.
The following is a list of the 24 new charters that will open their doors in New York City over the coming weeks:
– Achievement First Aspire Charter School
– Brilla College Preparatory Charter School
– Brooklyn Urban Garden Charter School
– Canarsie Ascend Charter School
– Citizens of the World Charter School Crown Heights
– Citizens of the World Charter School Williamsburg
– East Harlem Scholars Academy II
– Great Oaks Charter School
– Harlem Hebrew Language Academy Charter School
– Icahn Charter School 7
– Leadership Preparatory Canarsie Charter School
– Math, Engineering and Science Academy Charter High School (MESA)
– Middle Village Preparatory Charter School
– New American Academy Charter School
– New Visions Charter High School for Advanced Math & Science III
– New Visions Charter High School for the Humanities III
– South Bronx Classical Charter School II
– Success Academy Charter Schools Bronx 3
– Success Academy Charter Schools Crown Heights
– Success Academy Charter Schools Fort Greene
– Success Academy Charter Schools Hell’s Kitchen
– Success Academy Charter Schools Prospect Heights
– Success Academy Charter Schools Union Square
– Unity Preparatory Charter School of Brooklyn
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The New York City Charter School Center is a nonprofit organization committed to fostering an environment in which public charters can open and flourish, and, through their innovative approaches, provide models for improving all public schools. The NYC Charter Center helps new charter schools get started, supports existing schools, and engages the charter school community around key issues.
About NYC’s Charter Schools
Charter schools are free, independently run public schools that are able to innovate in their classroom structures, curriculum, and teaching methods. In return, they’re held to higher standards of accountability. More than 90 percent of the City’s charter school students are African-American or Latino, and more than 75 percent are from low-income families. There will be 183 charter schools serving students in all five boroughs in the 2013-2014 school year, with a total of more than 200 schools across the state. All together an estimated 75,000 students in New York attend charter schools.
